2026 WPIAL Class 3A girls championship game: Shady Side Academy vs. Greensburg Central Catholic

Bill Beckner TribLive Wed, Feb 25, 2026 • 11:01 AM

Shady Side Academy’s Morgan Kane battles Greensburg Central’s Sophia Detwiler for a loose ball on Jan. 8. (Christopher Horner | TribLive)

Girls

Class 3A

Championship

3-Greensburg Central Catholic (19-6) vs. 1-Shady Side Academy (22-2)

7 p.m. Thursday at Petersen Events Center

Coaches: Chris Skatell, GCC; Jonna Burke, SSA

Players to watch: Erica Gribble, GCC; Karis Thomas, SSA

Starters:GCC – 12 Jayla Peterson (Sr., 5-10, G), 23 Erica Gribble (Sr., 5-11, G), 24 Abby Dlugos (Sr., 5-10, F), 31 Avery Jones (Jr., 5-11, F), 34 Nolan Althof (Jr., 5-10, F); SSA – 1 Laila Banner (So., 5-9, G), 4 Jocelyn Long (Fr., 5-4, G), 15 Cassie Sauer (Sr., 6-2, F), 21 Leah Buford (Jr., 5-10, F), 23 Karis Thomas (Sr., 5-7, G)

WPIAL titles: GCC 7 (2025, ‘24, ‘07, ‘06, ‘03, 1997, ‘91); SSA 1 (2024)

Road to the Pete: GCC — Defeated Mohawk, 67-21; OLSH, 57-42; and Beaver Falls, 67-30; SSA — Defeated Avonworth, 40-27; Seton LaSalle, 55-36.

Layup lines: This is the finals rematch most people expected. Defending champion GCC is chasing a three-peat after winning the 2A crown two years ago. Like last year, the Centurions enter the title game with two losses to the Bulldogs (66-59 and 54-43). In last year’s championship, Gribble scored 14 of her game-high 31 points in the fourth quarter — and added five steals — as GCC rallied for a 56-51 win. Jayla Peterson, another key returnee for GCC and a Wheeling commit, had eight of her 16 in the fourth. GCC forced 20 turnovers. Abby Dlugos, who came back from an injury to play this season, did not play in last year’s final. Gribble, a Richmond commit and GCC’s all-time leading scorer with over 2,283 points, had 28 points in the title game two years ago. GCC jumped on No. 2 Beaver Falls early and cruised to a 67-30 win in the semifinals. Gribble had 27, Avery Jones added 13 and Peterson had 10. Jones grabbed 15 rebounds and Dlugos added eight assists and nine rebounds. … Shady Side Academy rolled to its 13th straight win, 55-36, over Seton LaSalle in the semifinals. Cassie Sauer, the Bulldogs 6-foot center and Chicago commit who did not play in last year’s final due to a hip injury, had 18 points, while Thomas added 16. Like Gribble, Thomas, a Purdue Fort Wayne commit, also is a career 2,000-point scorer. The Bulldogs beat GCC twice this season, 66-59 and 54-43. Thomas had 28 (14 of 15 FTs) and Gribble 26 in the first game. Gribble was limited to just five points in the second matchup, but GCC’s Morgan Skoloda had five 3-pointers for 15 points. SSA won the 3A title two years ago. It is its only WPIAL championship. Burke is a former standout player who is in the WPIAL Hall of Fame. She played at Bethel Park. Thomas fouled out with 24 points in last year’s final on 8-of-10 shooting. … The winner will open the PIAA playoffs March 6 at home against a subregional winner from either District 5 or 6. The loser will host a team from District 8 or 9.